


Non-conventional Curse-breaking Techniques

by aelbereth



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Community: rs_games, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, True Love's Kiss, gratuitous magic in a non-canon setting, i feel like i wrote a furry fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 13:18:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5207288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelbereth/pseuds/aelbereth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could fly?” Sirius pondered.</p><p>“Oh,” said Remus, “but we can!”</p><p>“Last I checked, you don’t have any wings, and mine didn't work very well.”</p><p>They both sat for a moment in happy reminiscence of the day Sirius broke his leg the second time.</p><p> </p><p>(or, Remus is a boy cursed to live as a wolf and Sirius is his very best friend)</p><p>Written for the 2015 R/S Games, team Moon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Non-conventional Curse-breaking Techniques

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [on the R/S Games Dreamwidth](http://rs-games.dreamwidth.org/138750.html).
> 
> Prompted by a [Calvin and Hobbes strip](http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg116/rsgames/rs_games%202015/Prompts/Calvin%20and%20Hobbes_zpsxlo2iu2c.gif~original).

~ i ~

 

Once upon a time there was a boy who was cursed. He didn’t remember when he’d been cursed, or even what he had done to deserve it, but he was definitely cursed. He knew as much because boys are not supposed to be wolves, and his body was absolutely that of a wolf. Therefore, he reasoned, something must have gone wrong somewhere, and he knew fairytales featuring people turned into things because of curses. 

 

The boy remembered nothing, aside from his name, which was Remus; he knew fairytales because there was a girl who read them aloud every night from her house in the forest. Remus had never met the girl, but he sat outside her window to hear the stories. Thus, he figured out that he was cursed, and tried to think of ways he could undo it. 

 

All the fairytales seemed to feature either true love, a complicated potion, or weaving something in a multiple of seven. Remus didn’t know of anyone he could love (he figured he was too young for true love anyway) and his paws were not suited to weaving, so he ventured around the forest collecting interesting berries and mushrooms. _Surely,_ he thought, _one of these will have some magical property._ But none of them did, and after a while he stopped collecting them. 

 

After much thought, Remus decided he didn’t mind being a wolf. He still thought coherently, and it was quite easy to get along in the forest. There weren’t any predators, although he had a feeling there should have been, and plenty of delicious things for a wolf pup to eat. He listened to the tales at night, and slept in a very nice burrow conveniently placed near the girl’s house. The only thing he wished for was a friend. 

 

Fairytales told him he should wish upon a star, but they were hard to see through the thick leaves of the trees above. After howling at the moon, which he had taken to doing for tradition’s sake, Remus decided to take his own initiative, and started wandering the perimeter of the forest looking for a friend.

 

It didn’t take long before he found someone.

 

x

 

The forest Remus lived in was bordered on one side by a city. Several backyards opened into the trees, so he visited them first. The people who lived there were not happy to have a wolf prowling around, and chased him away with screams of “Protect the baby!” and “Vermin!” Disappointed, Remus retreated and chose another tactic. Since big people didn’t like him, he would find a small one!

 

Remus climbed a hill that looked down on a cozy street of houses. It was crested by a tall beech tree, with a little boy sitting under it. _He looks small enough to be nice,_ he thought. He ran up to the boy and stood next to him, ready to make a new friend. The boy reached out slowly and touched his nose, and a shock went through Remus’ body. He opened his mouth to bark hello.

 

“Yes! Hello! I’m Remus.” The words came out before he realized what they were. He could talk! “I’m Remus and I can talk! Will you be my friend?”

 

The boy’s face broke into a smile. “Sure, I’ll be your friend. Why do you need a friend? Why can you talk? I don’t think dogs are supposed to talk. I’m Sirius. I’m six years old.”

 

“I don’t know how I can talk - I was never able to talk before. I’m not a dog, though. I’m a boy, too. I don’t know why I look like a wolf, either. I’m so glad we can be friends!”

 

And thus began Remus’ first friendship.

 

x

 

One day, the sky opened and poured. It was freezing and terrible. Remus’ fur was dripping and the cold had trickled down to his skin. He didn’t want to leave his burrow, but he could feel his paws getting colder and knew he had to move. The only place he knew of to go was the beech tree he always met Sirius under, so he resolved to go there. 

 

He poked his nose out the door and the cold air hit him like running into a tree. Remus pointed himself in the general direction of where he thought Sirius’ side of the forest was. Probably. He walked a few paces, almost blinded, before he really did run into a tree. Adjusting his trajectory somewhat, he trudged on, and ran into something again. Despite the rain, however, Remus could tell he hadn’t hit a tree this time. It was tall and long, and he carefully walked along it until - a door! He had found fairytale girl’s cottage!

 

Remus scratched frantically at the door. He’d never experienced a storm so violent, and all he cared about was the shelter of the little house. He barked as loud as he could, and ran inside as soon as the door opened. There was a small fire burning in the centre of the room, and Remus immediately shook out his fur and lay down next to it. 

 

He closed his eyes and felt a soft hand on his head. It was bigger than Sirius’ and unfamiliar, but he guessed it was fairytale girl’s, and he knew her. She’d soothed him to sleep for years with her stories, and before Sirius, she was his only connection to the human world. The fire was warm and Remus’ fur was drying, and the effect was soporific. He fell asleep as fairytale girl started to speak.

 

A crash woke him. Startled, Remus stood up and looked around. The fire was covered by a huge black pot, and a person he presumed to be his host was cringing at a green puddle on the floor. She sighed, stepped gingerly around it, and disappeared into another room. 

 

The puddle, upon closer inspection, was putrid, bubbling, and filled with shards of broken glass. Remus shied away from it and followed fairytale girl’s scent through an open doorway. 

 

In the new room, he was surrounded by colour. Brilliantly-toned vials lined the walls, and bright flowers hung from the ceiling. The girl was on a ladder facing the vials, her hair shockingly pink. She turned around, almost lost her footing on the ladder, steadied herself, and descended towards him. “Wotcher! You’re awake, then?”

 

Remus faltered. He’d only ever heard her voice telling the stories that put him to sleep every night. Before he worked up the courage to reply, though, she continued.

 

“I’m sorry if I woke you up by dropping that potion bottle. I’m trying to make you a counter-curse, but I’m terribly clumsy. I need cushioned floors or something, I swear.”

 

“Counter-curse? I knew there was a curse!” Remus jumped up excitedly. “Can I help you—” He was cut off by another crash. Fairytale girl had dropped another vial, purple this time. The floor began to smoke.

 

“You can talk?”

 

“Yes, I’ve been able to talk since—” he broke off with a cough. “Is this smoke dangerous?”

 

The girl shook herself and walked towards the door. “It probably is. We should talk outside.” Remus followed her to the clearing outside, where he could see his burrow. “I’m Tonks,” she said once they were safe from the cloying smoke, “And I didn’t know you could talk!”

 

“I’m Remus. I’ve been calling you fairytale girl for ever, so thanks for the name. I couldn’t talk before, but for some reason I can now. It’s very nice.”

 

“You heard my stories! I’ve been looking after you for a long time. Keeping predators away, providing food. I tried to stop that storm, but it was much too strong. It’s so wonderful to finally meet you!” Her hair turned blue as she spoke.

 

“Thank you for that - I’d been wondering why it was so easy. Counter-curse, though? Can you make one?”

 

Tonks sighed. “I’m trying to. Counter-curses are very difficult to make, and I’m not the most talented at spells anyway. I prefer disguises.”

 

“Well, I’m happy I can talk, at least. We should be friends!” Remus wagged his tail happily.

 

She smiled brightly. “I’d like that. It’s lonely out here.”

 

x

 

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could fly?” Sirius pondered one day.

 

“Oh,” said Remus, ears perked and tail wagging. “but we can!”

 

“Last I checked, you don’t have any wings, and mine didn't work very well.”

 

They both sat for a moment in happy reminiscence of the day Sirius broke his leg the second time.

 

Remus broke the silence, too excited to sit and think. “Anyway, we can! We just need a big enough hill to roll down with the wagon.”

 

“Sounds brilliant! Let’s find one.”

 

The hill with the beech tree was perfect. It had a stream running along the forest-facing side, and was covered in soft grass. Sirius dragged his wagon up, and Remus romped along beside him. They got in and pushed off.

 

“I’m so glad you aren’t boring, Moony. People are terribly boring. I think I like wolves more. You’re like a dog, but nicer, of course, because you’re my friend for real and dogs only love you because you feed them.”

 

“Well, I’m glad I rank higher than dogs, at least.” Remus didn’t like dogs. They always barked at him, and when he got up the courage to play with them, they never came into the forest with him. He kept thinking about dogs, the wind whistling through his fur and blowing his ears back.

 

Sirius’ prattling was whisked away in the wind, and Remus caught the end of a sentence. “—house in the forest.”

 

“What was that?”

 

“James - he’s my friend from school, you’d like him - he said that there’s a witch who lives in a house in the forest! Have you ever seen her?”

 

“I’ve never seen a witch. My friend Tonks lives in the forest, but she’s nice and tells me fairytales. Witches are supposed to be ugly and horrible, according to what I’ve heard.”

 

Sirius nodded sagely, but the effect was ruined by how silly his hair looked, streaming back from his face. “They lure children in with candy and eat them. Your friend sounds nice, though. We should go visit her!”

 

“Sure! Let’s try and land safely first, though.”

 

They never did visit Tonks, because the wagon did not land safely. It jumped one bank of the stream and missed the opposite one, dropping boy and wolf into the water. Remus stood up shakily, shook the water out of his fur, and poked at Sirius, who was laying face-up in the shallow water and moaning.

 

“Remus,” he whimpered, “I think I’m hurt.” There were tears brimming in his eyes. Remus panicked. Every time Sirius had broken a leg, and even the time he sprained his wrist, they had been close enough to town that they could get back. He had no idea what to do, because the huge hill stood between them and help. For lack of a better idea, he nuzzled into Sirius and pushed him out of the water. They sat on the bank together as Sirius tried to dry his tears.

 

“Do you think you broke anything?” Sirius shook his head, but he pulled Remus closer and buried his face into his fur. Remus jerked as a zap ran through him. He backed out of Sirius’ arms and stood up - _on two legs!_

 

“You’re a human!” Sirius gasped. Remus looked down at himself. There were his paws, but they looked like Sirius’, with long, dextrous fingers instead of claws. He was wearing a sweater and pants that were obviously too small - could they be the clothes he’d been wearing when he was first cursed? He smiled, as he’d seen Tonks and Sirius do.

 

“I’m a human! The curse is gone! This is amazing!”

 

Sirius beamed up at him and got to his feet with a wince. “You’re taller than me, too. Right handsome.”

 

Remus felt his cheeks heat up. “You’re hurt, though! We’ve got to get you back home.”

 

He offered his shoulder for Sirius to lean on, and they headed towards the city.

 

That evening, Remus went to sleep happy in Tonks’ extra bed. It was wonderfully comfortable, and he fell asleep before the sun went down.

 

When he woke up, the blankets were strewn everywhere. Tonks came in as he was examining the muddy pawprints littering her floor. 

 

“You’re still a wolf at night, Remus.” She frowned. “And you couldn’t talk to me anymore.”

 

The curse wasn’t quite broken after all.

 

~ ii ~

 

The year Sirius was eleven, Remus decided he would go to school. He was human enough in the daytime, and was terribly bored while Sirius went every day. He’d never been to school, of course, but he’d ‘helped’ with Sirius’ homework enough that he could read and had a basic grasp of mathematics. Sirius had mixed feelings about the idea, the most prevalent being _School isn’t fun, Remus. I haven't the slightest idea why you would want to go._ Once Remus had reassured him that his mind was made up, however, Sirius was excited to have him there. 

 

Despite his lack of elementary schooling, Remus got along fine. He met the famous James and a mousy boy named Peter, and the four became fast friends. Evenings became his favourite time, because Sirius would see him off by the old beech tree and they’d be alone, like old times. He didn't mind sleeping in the forest, except when the other three planned sleepovers he could never attend.

 

x

 

Sirius had a wonderful idea. “I’m going to call you Moony.” he announced one day out of the blue. “You’re always affected by the moon, and it sounds nice.” Remus liked the nickname. James became Prongs, after his treehouse, situated in the prongs of an oak tree. Peter was Wormtail because of one memorable rainy day incident. 

“What about you?” Remus asked. 

 

Sirius was aghast. “I can’t name _myself_ , Moony. That would be terribly conceited.” Peter, listening in, gave a snort. “Shut up, Wormtail. Here I am, trying to be humble, and you don’t even believe me.”

 

“Padfoot.” James said imperiously. “Because you look like a dog my cousin had once.”

 

“A dog! Shouldn't Moony be the dog? I’ll give you _dog_!” Sirius tackled him, yelling “Cur!” Remus smiled. He loved his friends.

 

x

 

One summer night, Remus and Sirius lay beside the beech tree looking up at the sky. A curious turn of events meant that the stars were visible despite it being not-quite-dark. Remus was savouring his last few moments of the day when Sirius broke the comfortable silence.

 

“I love the stars. They’re very… inspiring.”

 

“Sirius Black, philosopher? I never thought I’d see the day.”

 

“Oh, shut up, you. People ought to stop and watch sometimes. The sky is so huge, and everybody’s hurrying around doing silly things like _school_.”

 

“We played in the stream today. All. Day.”

 

“It’s only other people who have to slow down, Moony. We’re fine where we are.”

 

Remus thought about it more as he walked away from the hill, preparing for the change. He rarely got to see the stars, but their majesty made him want to slow down. Teenage summers seemed to last forever, but someday, he would grow up. He survived well enough with his curse now, but how would he live as an adult? The thought plagued him all night, and stayed in the back of his mind for a long time.

 

~ iii ~

 

Four years later, James Potter had an idea. He called the merry Marauding band to meet after school, and launched into his proposal without any further ado.

 

“Don’t you see?” said James. “Our Moony’s cursed!” 

 

Sirius made a strange noise, and Remus looked at him sideways. James didn’t notice anything and continued his explanation. 

 

“Some terrible witch has put a spell on him because of something or other his father did. She must’ve not been a good one, though, because the curse is wearing off.”

 

Sirius made the noise again. It was like a sort of choke. Remus wondered if he was all right. It wasn’t as if this was news. Remus had known for years, since he met Tonks. 

 

Peter piped up. “There’s a witch in the forest! You know about her, James - she's called Nymphadora! I bet _she_ cursed Remus.” 

 

“Was there anything,” James wondered, “that triggered its going away? We could try that again. and see if it works. Does Remus have a true love or something?”

 

Remus remembered giving up on the various fairytale cures, before he met Sirius. He opened his mouth to say something, then looked at Sirius and shut it again. Sirius was quite red. Very red indeed. Remus suddenly remembered what had happened before each of his previous partial cures.

 

 _Oh dear,_ he thought. _Sirius is my curse alleviator. And I’ve never told him that the curse even exists._

Sirius leaned in very close. Remus’ heart was beating loudly enough that he must have heard it, and both of them were breathing a little fast. When their noses were almost touching, Sirius stopped. Remus’ nervousness fell away, replaced by impatience. He moved forward and kissed Sirius at last. His lips were different than Remus had imagined. Not in a bad way. They were real and Sirius was warm against him and all Remus could think was _finally._ The light dimmed around them as he gently threaded his hand into Sirius’ hair. After a few blessed moments, Sirius pulled away, and they sat in silence watching each other as the sun set. The full moon rose though the branches of the old beech and a half-familiar shock went through Remus.

 

Everything went black.

 

x

 

“It didn’t work.” A voice cut through Remus’ darkness. He tried to open his eyes, but they were heavy and _everything hurt_. He was lying somewhere soft, surrounded by the familiar smells of Tonks’ house.

 

“What were you trying to do?” Tonks.

 

“I thought that it would cure him! True love’s kiss - it’s supposed to break every curse. And I’ve helped him before.” It was Sirius. Sirius! Sirius had kissed him! Remus succeeded in opening his eyes. He was curled up in Tonks’ spare bed, and Sirius was sitting by his feet. Tonks was walking in with several bottles in her arms. She noticed his open eyes.

 

“He’s awake! How do you feel, Remus?”

 

“Terrible. Why am I here? What happened?” He sat up, groggy. Sirius looked guiltily down at his hands.

 

“I kissed you, but it didn’t break the curse. You—” His voice broke and Tonks cut in.

 

“Your wolf was an animal, Remus. It tried to attack him. From what I can gather, it ran here after Sirius scared it off, and I tranquilized you. I didn’t do it quite right, though - you’ve been asleep three days.”

 

“It’s not me anymore? I can’t deal with that every night! What if I hurt someone? You’ve got to lock me up, Tonks, find a spell quick!” Panic made Remus’ breathing come fast and painful. He looked down to find his skin cut and bandaged in several places.

 

Tonks set her vials down and gave him a comforting hug. “It’s not every night. You didn’t turn last night, so I think it’s only on the full moon. If so, your condition is just regular lycanthropy. I have books on this sort of thing. We’ll figure it out. But first, _you two_ have some figuring out to do.” She left the room with a wink.

 

“Er,” Sirius said. “I didn’t mean to throw the true love thing on you like that. I just—you wanted to get better, and I figured out how. So I kissed you. I asked first, and you seemed okay with it.”

 

“I remember, Pads. And I’m definitely okay with it. I—I’ve been thinking about it for a long time now.” 

 

Sirius smiled. “You’re a sap, Moony. And I’d love to kiss you some more.” He leaned over the bed and put a hand on Remus’ cheek before gently pressing their lips together. Remus sat up to get closer to him, his hand reaching up into Sirius’ dark curls. He shivered as Sirius ran his tongue over his lips, then pulled back, beaming up at him.

 

“Anything exciting happen while I was out?” 

 

Sirius lit up. “Tonks has an idea - James, Peter and I could become animals, too!”

 

Remus’ stomach sank slightly. That did not sound like a good idea. “How about we don’t let Tonks mess with magic for a while? One curse fiasco was enough.”

 

“But, Mooooony! I’d get to kiss you more!”

 

Remus smiled. “You can kiss me anyway, you big goof.”

 

And he did.

 

~ fin ~


End file.
